Before the first round match between Jimmy White and
Peter Fransisco,
there were unusual (huge) bettings all over Great Britain on a 10-2
win for Jimmy White. The match finished 10-2... WPBSA was informed
before the match and the President of the Embassy World Championship
organization watched every frame of it, but he haven't made any
comments yet.

Tony Drago still managed a smile after his championship
tilt ended at
the hands of Stephen Hendry. "I enjoyed it really... I
played some
brilliant frames but that isn't enough to win matches."
"I don't think Stephen played that well but he didn't really have
to. Sure, he can win it again but now that I am out of it, I hope
Jimmy White wins the title."

Darren Morgan seemed a bitter man efter watching a
healthy lead crumble to a hefty defeat against
Ronnie O'Sullivan.
"I outplayed him yesterday. At 8-4 down he couldn't pot a ball but I
let him get away with it," he said.
Ronnie O'Sullivan won nine frames in a row to win 13-8. He's now
looking forward to a quarter-final clash with
Stephen Hendry.
"I cant't wait... I'm in the quarter-finals and I haven't even
played well yet." "I donb't know what it says about the standard of
snooker these days but I played better when I was 12."

Jimmy White has been eliminated from the WPBSA inquiry
into alleged
match-fixing but there will be a further probe inte Peter Fransisco.
The WPBSA have announced that they will continue their inquiry into
the South African on May 8th.
Jimmy White looked relaxed after the meeting. "I've been
eliminated... that's the biggest odds-on bet of all time", he joked,
after six hours of talks in a Sheffield hotel on Wednesday.
Peter Fransisco made no comment but his solicitor, Baldir Singh, said
the player denied any allegations.

Stephen Hendry was full of praise for Ronnie O'Sullivan after brushing
aside the teenager to reach the semi-finals.
"Ronnie's the most talented player I've ever seen. He'll win the
World title one day, there's no doubt about that. But I played
brilliantly this morning, I can't remember missing any pots."

After the first session, Jimmy White led 6-2, but
John Parrott managed
to come back to level the scores at 8-8. In a close finish, Jimmy
White finally took the match by 13-11 and now faces
Stephen Hendry in
the semi-finals.

After an extremely boring and rather lousy match, Nigel Bond
finally beat Gary Wilkinson and booked a semi-final clash with Andy Hicks. Who would have thought
that Nigel Bond or Andy Hicks would reach the World
championships final?

Stephen Hendry steamed into his fifth world final by
shattering Jimmy
White's dreams with a 16-12 victory. Simple statistics do not tell the
whole story but White failed to make a century at the Crucible; Hendry
has a record nine.

Stephen Hendry paid tribute to Jimmy White after the match: "With
what he's been through in the last few months it's a tremendous
judgement of his character that he's playing at all." (What Stephen
has in mind is White's testicle cancer, for which he had to undergo
surgery in March.)

The Whirlwind himself said: "The way I've played all year I was just
pleased to be playing better. I still feel I've got a lot to give." "I
love this game and I'll keep coming back here as long as I feel I'm
playing good snooker."

Stephen Hendry has become only the third player to make a maximum 147
at the world championships.

Cliff Thorburn was the first man to record a 147 maximum at the world
championships in 1983 against Terry Griffiths. White himself
also joined the exclusive club when hit a 147 three years ago against
Tony Drago.

Stephen needed just 11 minutes and 48 seconds to secure his 147
maximum - and collect a cheque for 147 000 Pounds. He started his
break with a superb long red. He picked the rest with apparent ease,
including an awkward final red and blue - and sealed it despite being
out of position on the black.

It was the Scot's first maximum in a ranking tournament - his only
other in competition came in the European League. It was his 289th
century break, his 47th at the world championships and his 44th ton of
the season.

After the match, Nigel Bond said: "Whoever I play in the
final I am
the underdog so I have nothing to lose. It would be a dream come true
to win it." "Andy came out all guns blazing at 15-7 and I was glad to
get to the interval so I could get my concentration back."

Andy Hicks won the first frame on a re-spotted black but after that
Nigel Bond played brilliantly and won six frames in a row.

Stephen Hendry won his fifth world title and his fourth
in a row by defeating Nigel Bond 18-9. This means he has won
20 consecutive matches in the World Championship - two more than
Davis' earlier record. He was never threatened in the final
and made three more century breaks. His total of 12 tons for the tournament equals the record for
a ranking tournament. He has now made 52 World Championship centuries, 49 in this season and a
record 294 in his career.

The scot earned a bit of pocket money in Sheffield. He got the first prize of £190.000, plus
the £147.00 bonus for a maximum. The £16.000 for the highest break in the tournament gives him a
total of £353.000. In addition he received the keys to a new Ferrari (£200.000) from his sponsors.
That's what I call a good payday! The money took his career earnings to £4,156,975 - £16,000 more
than Davis and a new record. He has won more than £700,000
this season, which is also a record.

Hendry became the first man in the modern era to win
four consecutive world titles. Steve Davis won three in
1987-89. Now his target must be to overcome Davis in number of titles won. He's just one behind
Davis' total of six victories. Hendry has now won 22 ranking events and 52 major titles.